Richard Danielpour

January 28, 1956

New York City, US

Early life[edit]

Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jewish descent and grew up in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida.[1] He studied at Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory of Music, and later at the Juilliard School of Music, where he received a DMA in composition in 1986. His primary composition professors at Juilliard were Vincent Persichetti and Peter Mennin.[2]


Danielpour taught at the Manhattan School of Music from 1993 to 2017. He joined the faculty of Curtis Institute of Music in 1997.[3] He joined the faculty of the Herb Alpert School of Music of the University of California Los Angeles in 2017.

(libretto by Toni Morrison; 2005)[7]

Margaret Garner

Official website

University of California Los Angeles page on Richard Danielpour

Curtis Institute of Music page on Richard Danielpour

'Q&A with Composer Richard Danielpour (Part II)'. Curtis Institute of Music, 17 April 2023